Can’t Miss Startup Advice (November)

Welcome to the fourth edition of CMSA. If you like this series TRUST ME you don’t want to miss the motherlode coming out on Monday. Now down to business. DailyTekk loves startups, especially tech startups. We do everything we can to expose companies we think are awesome as well as to support budding entrepreneurs. To that end we have a series called Innovators that explores what makes a founder and a startup company a success. We get lots of great answers from passionate people who want to pass their knowledge along. Here you will find the best advice over the last couple of months. What do you think? Have anything to add?

Do the Opposite of Everyone Else

a) Do the opposite of everyone else. If everyone is making a Daily Deals/ Big Data/ location based photo sharing app, you should probably avoid that space. Its better to observe trends as they unfold and avoid doing what seems to be getting all the press.

b) Do your research. Talk to people who are in the field that you want to break into and get as much information as possible. Before starting Sterobot, I found mentors that explained every detail about music licensing. I started researching at least 12 months before beginning to work on the product.

c) Keep on fighting and be patient. Many people get discouraged after they put in a lot of work and their startup is not an instant success. I believe its Bill Gates who said ‘people overestimate what they can do in three years, but underestimate what can be done in seven.’ I think perseverance is what separates the successes from the failures. Being ready to bang your head against the wall until you get right. Rome wasn’t built in a day (..but it was built eventually!).

Start Sooner Rather Than Later

Do your research, find your passion and get started sooner rather than later. You will learn a lot from the process, and the earlier you start the sooner you will figure out what it takes to succeed (which is likely a different model than what you start with!) That being said, you (and your spouse) must be willing to live the sacrifices that are inevitable. Running a startup is a roller coaster ride and you must be prepared to stomach the ups and downs.

It Hasn’t All Been Done Already

There has never been a better time to start a company. Don’t listen to people who say it’s all been done. The world is changing all around us – social, mobile, the cloud, big data – and there are massive opportunities right now to have an impact and make people’s lives better. Go for it.

Know Your Audience

Don’t : ) However if they still want to, my advice is the same advice as for someone wanting to start any business or create any product: know your audience… your consumer. What do they want and why is that thing you are making going to be something they want? If you create just for yourself, you run the risk of making something amazing that no one will ever see. Specifically for tech, I encourage everyone to make sure you combine in your senior management very tech savvy people with very product savvy people. One without the other is a recipe for failure. When my business partner LeVar Burton and I spoke to people in the Silicon Valley early on in RRKIDZ life, we heard a similar story. Many savvy people can create great tech but don’t have strengths in user experience, whereas Hollywood is all about user experience but often doesn’t spend enough time understanding the technology side. Combine the two: Tech and UX.

Dream Big & Don’t Be Afraid

Dream big and don’t be afraid. The journey itself is an incredible thrill and a unique learning experience. You create something great from nothing, routinely overcome problems that you thought were insurmountable, and enjoy every minute of it. Definitely worth all the pain, uncertainty and long nights.

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